CCC Gainesville | Blog
“We all suffer. For we all prize and love; and in this present existence of ours, prizing and loving yield suffering. Love in our world is suffering love. Some do not suffer much, though, for they do not love much. Suffering is for the loving. This, said Jesus, is the command of the Holy One: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” In commanding us to love, God invites us to suffer.”
― Nicholas Wolterstorff, Lament for a Son
― Nicholas Wolterstorff, Lament for a Son
I want you to consider turning up tonight or tomorrow at one or two events where Nicholas Wolterstorff will be speaking.
First, let me briefly introduce him to you. If you google Nicholas Wolterstorff your first “auto fill ins” are:
Justice (not a bad thing to have associated with your name) and “Lament for a Son”. “Lament for a Son” was my introduction to NW years ago. I remember reading it and being so absolutely floored by the pain and hope of a parent at the sudden and tragic death of his college-aged son.
“God is not only the God of the sufferers but the God who suffers. … It is said of God that no one can behold his face and live. I always thought this meant that no one could see his splendor and live. A friend said perhaps it meant that no one could see his sorrow and live. Or perhaps his sorrow is splendor. … Instead of explaining our suffering God shares it.”
“How is faith to endure, O God, when you allow all this scraping and tearing on us? You have allowed rivers of blood to flow, mountains of suffering to pile up, sobs to become humanity’s song–all without lifting a finger that we could see. You have allowed bonds of love beyond number to be painfully snapped. If you have not abandoned us, explain yourself….We strain to hear. But instead of hearing an answer we catch sight of God himself scraped and torn. Through our tears we see the tears of God.” Wednesday 6:15pm on UF Campus (Pugh Hall, Room #170)
&
Thursday 7:30pm at Creekside Community Church
The Christian Study Center has much more info on these two different lectures. I just wanted to provide some background for you who might not be familiar.
And here are the two main things for which I knew NW prior to this week:
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Lament for a Son: Nicholas Wolterstorff: 9780802802941: Amazon …
www.amazon.com/Lament-Son-Nicholas–Wolterstorff/…/080280294…Wolterstorff, a well-known Christian philosopher, lost his 25-year-old son to a mountain climbing accident. His reflections in the wake of that tragedy are at times …
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[PDF]
The Grace That Shaped My Life – Calvin College
www.calvin.edu/125th/wolterst/w_bio.pdfFile Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat – Quick View
by N WOLTERSTORFF – Cited by 5 – Related articles
The Grace That Shaped My Life. NICHOLAS WOLTERSTORFF. Nicholas Wolterstorff has a joint appointment in the divinity school and the philosophy and …
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